Coalition advocates for '21st century' HEA rewrite

Dive Brief:

The Online Learning Consortium, the University of Professional and Continuing Education Association, and the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies have joined together to release a common set of guiding principles for Congress as it considers reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

According to eCampus News, the groups are pushing for fairness in access to federal financial aid for distance learners and those learning via innovative methods like competency-based education, for the authorization of innovation in the HEA itself as well as flexibility for the Department of Education to waive rules on behalf of experimentation, and a narrow approach to new accountability requirements so as not to overburden institutions.

These guiding principles are meant to help Congress bring the Higher Education Act into the 21st century, taking into account the technologies and the student demographics that are a reality today.

Dive Insight:

According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, 85% of post-secondary students today are “non-traditional.” One-quarter of all students in the United States are taking at least one online course, and nearly 63% of U.S. colleges offered fully online degree programs in 2012, a number that almost doubled in a decade. The guiding principles encourage Congress to move away from laws that were written and designed for a different student population and a different higher education landscape.

Congress came together to decide on a rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 2015 but now, in an election year, which historically has not been a time for sweeping legislation, it is an open question whether Congress will be able to approve a new HEA.